Nancy Sirianni
November 26, 1925 - April 23, 2020

Nancy M. Sirianni

GREECE - April 23, 2020. Nancy is predeceased by her husband, Anthony F. Sirianni; children, Mary Hiemenz, Cathy Mills Joseph R. Sirianni. She is survived by her children, Rev. Louis Sirianni Nancy A. Sirianni; daughter-in-law, Ginny Sirianni; son-in-law, Steven Mills; grandchildren, Sonny (Brandi) Hiemenz, Kyle Hiemenz, Joe (Ann) Sirianni, Nick (Janna) Sirianni, Nichole (Kevin) Tully, Andy (Brandi) Mills Katie Rose Mills; great-granddaughters, Adie Mills Anna Mills; sister-in-law Lee Ragne; several nieces, nephews dear friends.

Nancy's family is requiring all guests upon entering the funeral home and church to wear face masks and use the provided hand sanitizer. Thank you.

Nancy's family will receive friends during her visitation on Tuesday, July 14, 5-8PM at the funeral home, 1411 Vintage Lane (Between Rt 390 Long Pond Rd). Click here to reserve your visitation time with Nancy's family

Her funeral mass will be held on Wednesday, July 15, 11AM at St. Marks Church, 54 Kuhn Rd., 14612.

Nancy's burial was held privately at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery with her family by her side. In lieu of flowers donations may be sent to Joseph R. Sirianni Scholarship Award, Holy Cross School, 4488 Lake Ave., Rochester, NY 14612 in Nancy's memory.

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Life Story of Nancy M. Sirianni



Mom was the most positive and strongest person we have ever known. Although she faced much hardship and loss throughout her life, especially with the death of several of her children and husband who preceded her in death, she never allowed it to take away her joy or faith. She understood how to fully trust God and wore out many a rosary praying for those she loved. Her Catholic faith was so very important to her, so she made sure her family went to church every Sunday and Holy Day. She sent us all to Catholic school and made sure we received all our sacraments. One of her proudest moments was when her oldest son, Louis, was ordained to become a priest. Second to God, family was most important in her life. She loved and was dedicated to her husband and her children and their spouses, whom she also considered her children, and their families, her family. Let's not forget her grandchildren and great grandchildren; boy oh boy did she love them. Nothing would light up her face more than a call or a visit from them.

Mom had such a great sense of humor and loved to have fun. At family parties or gatherings, wherever there was laughter to be heard, Mom was always at the center of it. Every Sunday, the whole family gathered at Mom's for supper, and we would talk and laugh our way through the whole meal. After Dad, tired of all the commotion, went to the living room, that's when the real craziness would break out. I think we may have burned at least 1/2 of the calories we ate by laughing so hard.

Mom was such an amazing cook. Some of her specialties included homemade pasta and sauce with meatballs, sausage, and braciola, lasagna, Manicotti, and Italian wedding soup. She was also an excellent baker and made delicious treats for the holidays. For Easter, it was her rice pie, ricotta pie and sweet bread. At Christmas, she spent weeks making tons of delicious cookies for our celebration and to give away to family, friends, and neighbors. In between the holidays, you could be sure there was always some banana bread or zucchini bread around. She always made sure to have some kind of delicious baked good in the freezer that she could pull out and serve with coffee when unexpected guests stopped by to visit. Not only were guests welcomed and greeted by her warm smile and genuine hospitality, they were also sure never to leave our house hungry.

Mom also knew how to throw a great party, which she did often for holidays, birthdays, graduations, confirmations, first communions, or anything else that she felt deserved celebrating. Preparations would take weeks with list making, shopping, cleaning the basement and transforming it into a party room, and finally cooking the feast. Up and down the stairs she went while cooking food in both the upstairs and downstairs kitchens. All our relatives would gather and eat, drink, laugh, and talk. With a family as large as ours, our basement was quite full, and so were our tummies!

With five children, Mom didn't have too much time for hobbies, but the one she did find time for was her sewing. She found solitude and enjoyment in her craft and was quite a talented seamstress, sewing most of her own clothes and dresses for her girls and their dolls, denim book bags and book covers for all of us, and church vestments for Lou. She designed and created many items for our house as well, including draperies, and furniture covers and upholstery to give our furniture a face-lift as it aged. She also loved to crochet and made many beautiful afghans, shawls, scarves, hats, booties and bonnets, and even stuffed animals for the grandkids while watching TV in the evenings.

Mom always put others ahead of herself, loved unconditionally and gave generously, not only to her family, but many others as well. She lived a simple, frugal life and had no desire to gather possessions, except for those souvenir spoons she collected and displayed from all of our adventures, though I think she loved the fact that we thought of her on our trips even more than the actual spoons. She was ahead of her time in reusing and repurposing items, which she learned from being a child of the great depression. She saved string, rubber bands, twist ties, grocery bags, bread bags, aluminum foil, and anything else that could be reused. She even knew how to get two uses out of a piece of paper towel! If she wanted a pencil holder, the next empty can, covered with contact paper, would do. She also had a talent for fixing things that were broken and wasn't afraid to take things apart to see where the problem was. She was also extremely organized and always knew exactly where something was when you couldn't find it yourself. Items used often, such as a pair of scissors or scotch tape, were found in a drawer in almost every room in the house. She had a place for everything and everything was in its place.

Mom was an avid and faithful Buffalo Bills fan and watched every game on television. She would always put on her Bills sweatshirt and watch the games with gusto, cheering on the players and yelling quite loudly at times when someone made a bad play or call. Her favorite player of all time was Doug Flutie, and when his face appeared on the front of a box of Flutie Flakes (cereal), personally autographed by Flutie himself, it made its glorious appearance at game time each Sunday. Except for football games, you wouldn't find the TV on during the daytime since she enjoyed listening to the radio talk shows, and at 3:00 PM each day, she turned the radio channel to EWTN to pray the Rosary. In the evenings, after all the day's chores were done, it was her time to relax, put her feet up, and watch her favorite shows.

While we were young, Mom stayed home with us, but as we grew older, she started working for the Rochester City School District. She started working in the cafeteria at a neighborhood elementary school, then moved to Charlotte High School in the attendance office, and finally worked at the downtown office until she retired. She enjoyed her job and had several coworkers that she became close friends with.

Mom enjoyed singing and loved the old songs she grew up with. We would always sing them with her on our long road trips. There were many times, just out of the blue, she would break out into song because something would remind her of it. While she was at the nursing home, she loved to go to the music events, and she could be seen tapping her feet and singing along with the performers. Often, she would make up her own songs to the amusement of those around her, The last time Nancy Ann spoke to her on the phone, days before Mom passed, she was very quiet, so Nancy Ann decided to sing "I've Been Working on the Railroad", trying to encourage Mom to sing with her. When Nancy Ann heard no response, she thought Mom must've dropped the phone or fallen asleep, but the aide said that Mom was awake, listening, and had a smile on her face.

Everyone who knew Mom, loved her and we will all miss her so very much. She is now singing with the angels in heaven.....

Ti amiamo, Mamma!

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